Getting Down
by fantasdancer
Summary: A journey across two worlds leaves the team in deep trouble. Revised and all in one chapter with a part 2 to come soon


_**Disclaimer - Don't own Stargate - but wish i did.**_

How the hell was he going to get down!

Daniel Jackson sighed and somersaulted weightlessly through the air of PXA-119, wishing that he hadn't eaten lunch. "Um, guys, somebody get me down please," he said to his team mates twenty feet below.

"Hang on Daniel, We'll think of something!" said Jack, as he finished anchoring the rest of the team to the DHD with his rope.

Sam was complaining loudly in exasperation as she searched through her backpack, snatching at things that threatened to float away. "This - this just isn't possible, sir. It doesn't make any sense at all."

"Just pass me any rope you've got Captain," said Jack trying not to grin. If the situation wasn't so weird he'd be teasing her and Daniel for the hedgehog hairstyles that weightlessness gave them. Maybe he would later; after they got Daniel down.

"Why me," complained Daniel. Teal'c had managed to snag Sam as they had stepped out into virtually zero gravity and Jack had managed to keep himself down near the ground somehow. But Daniel had stepped through totally unprepared for weightlessness. He'd let out a wild yelp and tried to grab hold of something; instead, he'd ended up with enough momentum to send him twenty feet above the gate. Stupid. Now his glasses were gone along with his booney, and he was floating up, up and away, feeling like a complete idiot. And beginning to panic. He wind milled his arms trying to swim himself downward and ended up floating even higher up instead.

"Stop moving Daniel!" called Sam. "There _is_ a little gravity here. You should eventually start floating downward if you can keep still."

"Keeping still," said Daniel with a long suffering sigh. Anything, as long as he headed _downwards_ instead of _up_. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and go with the flow - so to speak. He tried to convince himself that it was actually quite a pleasant experience; floating around, feeling almost completely weightless despite having a heavily loaded backpack on. He just wished he was floating a _lot_ closer to the ground and not way, _way_ up here. Okay. Big mistake. He concentrated on _not_ doing the hyperventilating, full blown panic thing. Jack already thought of him as a geek, and he wasn't going to show him what a wuss he could be as well.

Time to think about something else. Why _did_ stupid things always seen to happen to him? He was beginning to think he was particularly clumsy. That would explain why he was the only one floating around. After a dozen or so trips through the Stargate he'd started getting used to the general feeling of wrongness and other weird stuff when stepping out onto other worlds. Sometimes the differences were huge - like twin suns in the sky, but mostly they were only minor, like different scents, or gravity. It was the gravity thing that he'd had the most trouble with the first few times through the gate. These days, he listened to the MALP reports, figuring out what to anticipate so that he didn't stumble and fall flat on his nose. Daniel did another slow somersault and swallowed down bile. He'd stepped through _this_ Gate prepared to feel about 10 pounds heavier than usual - not weightless!

Maybe he hadn't been concentrating at the briefing when Sam read out the MALP readings. Stupid Daniel, just stupid. Maybe he'd screwed up again. Maybe he'd let himself get too hung up about stepping through the Gate without stumbling. He _had_ to be prepared for anything, like the rest of the team. _That _was why he was the only idiot floating around, needing rescuing – again. He couldn't afford to get kicked off the team for being clumsy. Sharae and Skaara were out there somewhere and they needed him. When was he going to learn?

In the distance he could see the bubble like structures that had gotten Sam so excited about this world. Definitely advanced. Definitely _not_ Goa'uld. Daniel wished he hadn't lost his glasses. He thought he could make out some moving shapes near the largest bubble.

"Daniel, try to catch the rope," called Jack.

Daniel blinked down at the blurred shapes below him. Something hit him across the chest. He reached for it and accidentally knocked it away instead. "Might be easier if I could actually see it, Jack," called Daniel. The impact had shifted him and now he was floating in an easterly direction instead of just upward.

"We'll keep trying 'till we've got you. Just do your best," said Jack.

"O'Neill," said Teal'c, "Something approaches."

Jack turned from coiling in the rope. In the sky flying towards them from the bubble structures were several red shapes. For a moment he thought they were machines of some sort but then he spotted the blurring of wings above the closest one. Damn. Giant red bugs. Not good, and Daniel was vulnerable – _so_ not good.

"Jaaack," said Daniel pointing to the red shapes.

"Daniel, company's coming. I'm gonna throw the rope again, aiming for your chest. In three, okay?"

Daniel waited for his somersault to spin him in the correct direction and snatched for the rope. It hit him across the thigh instead, and ricocheted away, pushing him further eastward, and away from his team.

"Damn it, sorry Daniel; can't deal with this weightless thing properly. Trying again," said Jack, struggling to regain his balance.

"Colonel, those ... beings have wings," said Carter.

"Uh-huh," said Jack, coiling in the rope as fast as he could, while trying to keep himself from tipping over.

"But, ..." she frowned, glancing up at Daniel and then at the flying creatures. "This must be like... , Sam thumped the DHD excitedly. "It's just localised in a small area, sir. It's like our iris. Wow, the technology this place must have. They trap anyone coming through the gate in a field with no gravity, while outside the field, gravity is normal, so ... ." A loud buzzing sound drowned out the rest of her sentence. Carter let out a surprised gasp and brought her M16 up to bare.

Jack dropped the rope and snatched up his own weapon. Damn they'd moved fast, he'd thought he would have at least a few more minutes grace before they arrived. He turned to see the first of eight flying insect-like creatures holding position about thirty feet from Daniel. The creature was about 14 feet long with two sets of enormous buzzing wings. Huge bulging eyes protruded from a praying mantis like head, with a sharp tubular protrusion where the mouth should be. The rest of it resembled a giant fly except for the six frog like limbs complete with digits. It's head twisted to look at each member of the team with fast jerky movements. It carried some sort of weapon in two of its limbs, aimed menacingly at the team. A stand off. Also not good.

"Hello," said Daniel trying to twist himself around to face the creature. "Um, we're peaceful ..."

The first creature gave out a loud, high pitched squeal which shredded the air. Daniel jammed his hands over his ears in agony. Inside his mind he got a momentary image of the team from a multifaceted aerial view, and another image of the Gate opening. "Ouch," he said, noticing immediately that his hearing had taken some damage and his voice sounded distant and muffled. "Um, yeah," babbled Daniel, jamming fingers into his ears and panting through the pain. He spared a glance down at his reeling team mates and turned to the creature. "We're peaceful explorers, we came through the Stargate and ..."

Another squeal, louder than the last.

Daniel cried out in agony. For a moment he could almost see the incredibly loud sounds rippling across his vision. Down at ground level he could see the others writhing in pain. Jack was struggling to keep them covered with his weapon.

Some of the other insects approached, squealing ripples at the first one. Daniel could see the edge of blackness creeping over his vision, as he was battered by multiple layers of agonisingly painful telepathic messages and cacophonous screeching sounds.

Jack dropped his weapon as he felt his eardrums burst and a mix of nausea and dizziness battered at him. His whole head felt like it was gonna explode and splatter his brains out everywhere. He had to fight hard just to remain conscious. Distantly he could hear the muffled screams of pain from his team mates. He jammed fingers into his ears feeling the wet stickiness of blood that had begun to trickle out of them under the assault.

The first creature screeched again, asking for silence, and then squealed a message right through Daniel. Daniel struggled to remain conscious as an image of the gate appeared again, this time with the team leaving through it, and yep, there was definitely a feeling of threat attached to the message.

"You ... you want us to leave," said Daniel. He spared a glance downward, seeing that Sam had passed out.

One of the other insects sent a message to its companions. Daniel could see/feel the question it had asked. It was wondering if Sam had died and would be left behind and if her bodily juices were tasty or not.

"Okay, um," Daniel fought to control his stomach. "We'll be leaving as soon as ... ." Abruptly Daniels' body began vibrating as a powerful stinging sensation swept up him. Daniel had only a moment to realise that he was passing through some sort of energy field and that his body was beginning to feel heavy. He let out a terrified yell and felt himself falling.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Jack swallowed convulsively, trying to keep himself from losing his lunch all over Carter, as the telepathic crap ripped up his brain cells. Throwing up would not be good – especially in near zero gravity. But there was Daniel, doing the meet and greet routine, holding it together in the hopes of making valuable allies, and Jack was amazed anew by the kids toughness. Toughness? Maybe more like determination. He was beginning to realise that the kid would go to any lengths to save his missing family.

Carter sagged lightly against him. She drifted slowly to the ground, unconscious. Jack shuffled himself around, wedged himself against the DHD and pressed a knee over her bleeding exposed ear trying to protect her from the screeching. That was it. He'd have to scrub this mission until they could come back better prepared – with huge ear muffs and loads of tylenol or something. He'd opened his mouth to pass on his decision when he heard Daniel give a terrified cry, and saw him falling.

Thump!

Daniel's body slammed hard onto the rocky ground twenty feet away, and was still.

One of the other insects touched a small control box and abruptly Jack had weight again. His lunch slammed back down into the bottom of his stomach and nearly came bouncing back out again. With shaking fingers, Jack quickly untied the rope anchoring him to the DHD. Teal'c worked at the other end of the rope and bent unsteadily to gather up his staff weapon.

Jack gave the bug leader a wary glare and stepped quickly over to Daniel. He rolled the kid carefully onto his back, and did a quick assessment. Blood seeped from a nasty gash along the edge of Daniel's scalp. His ears were also bleeding and, hell, blood was soaking rapidly into Daniels sleeve. A ragged tear in it revealed a piece of arm bone sticking through. "Damn it to hell, you could have caught him, or let him down gently or something," shouted Jack furiously.

A screech sounded again, shuddering through Jack's body. A telepathic image of the team leaving through the Gate followed by another image of the insects gathering around to drain the fluids from Daniel and Carter's bodies.

Jack took the hint: leave now or be lunch. At least he _hoped_ it was a hint. Maybe they were asking him to leave Daniel and Carter behind _as_ lunch. Jack gathered up Daniel's body carefully, and backed away.

"Dial up the gate, Teal'c – some place neutral so we don't have any tag alongs." Jack pulled two packs over one shoulder and Daniel's body over his other shoulder so that he could hold his weapon ready. "To hell with any alliance with these bugs. Let's get these kids out of here first and then home."

Teal'c snatched up their possession and pulled Carter's body over his shoulder, staggering a little as a wave of dizziness assaulted him. He shot the bugs a distinctly disdainful glare and started dialling a Gate address that they had used recently. He kept an ever wary eye on the hostiles while he waited for the wormhole to form, and then at O'Neill's nod, and using his staff weapon to steady himself, Teal'c stumbled through.

Jack backed carefully towards the Gate. He spared a glance back to see Teal'c entering the event horizon. He managed a small sigh of relief – two kids safe, one to go. He continued backing unsteadily towards the Gate.

The bugs were watching his movements.

Jack felt a fleeting telepathic message slice through his brain. It had him staggering a little with pain. It was so fast that he couldn't really recall the message clearly, but he knew – somehow – that if he faltered; if he dropped Daniel now, the bugs were gonna be on them and nothing was gonna stop them from sucking them both dry.

Jack locked his knees for a moment, until the wave of dizziness faded. His finger tightened on the trigger of his weapon. Then he backed, very carefully, through the Gate.

Jack took three staggering backward steps, turned and froze.

Almost literally.

Well, this was ... unexpected.

It was night time, and it was snowing. Hard.

Actually, this was blizzard weather. Just about the worst blizzard he'd ever ventured out into. Icy gusts shoved against him, almost pushing him back into the gate. Jack gritted his teeth as the winds assaulted his damaged eardrums. He wanted desperately to cover them against the assault, but it was all he could do just to stay upright without dropping Daniel.

Instantly Jack could feel the heat leaving the body that he held over his shoulder. In moments they were both shivering hard. They were not dressed for these sorts of conditions, and Daniel needed urgent medical attention. They had no time for side trips, they needed out of here, now!

"TEAL'C, CARTER?" he yelled, feeling the words whip away into the howling blizzard. If there was an answer, he couldn't hear it. This was trouble. Talk about out of the friggin' frying pan.

He didn't dare shift his footing yet in case he lost his sense of direction. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to remember how many paces he had taken stepping through the Gate. That was a mistake. He could feel his sense of balance tilt him sideways and he staggered. Jack grimaced, feeling acid climb up his throat. He edged forward carefully. The DHD was usually positioned about six meters from the Gate, and he knew that Teal'c would have done his best to make for it. He bumped into it after only a few more carefully directed paces.

"TEAL'C?" he yelled again. He held onto the DHD and turned slowly. He couldn't see his team mates anywhere. Hell, he couldn't see anything! Jack glanced down toward the DHD in frustration. Even if he could see past the blizzard to dial it up, he couldn't risk it, not knowing where the rest of his team were. They'd all taken damage from the bugs squealy mind crap. Teal'c and Carter could be passed out right there in front of the Stargate for all he knew.

A particularly nasty blast of wind had Jack staggering back against the DHD, Daniel's body shifted on his shoulder and Jack was shocked when he had almost dropped his friend. The cold was getting to him too fast. Freezing to death within the next ten minutes was a definite possibility. Oh yeah, deep, deep trouble.

Jack lowered Daniel carefully to lean against the DHD mindful of his team mates badly broken arm. Daniel didn't stir, as far as Jack could tell. That's when he noticed that Daniel wasn't shivering any more, and he could also feel the shivers dying down in his own body as hypothermia threatened to take hold. He knelt against Daniel's body, providing as much shelter from the blizzard front as he could whilst he pulled open his pack.

He quickly sifted through the contents with numb fingers finding the small emergency pop up tent. He got the tent set up by the sheltered side of the DHD as quickly as he could; tossing in the packs and anchoring it with his feet so that the tent didn't blow away whilst he wrestled Daniel's body inside. He closed the tent flaps and found a torch. He turned it on and stuck it in a corner of the pack so that he could see. He quickly brushed off the snow covering them finding that it had barely melted at all against Daniel's cold body.

Jack knew he didn't have much in the way of spare clothing. They'd only expected to be out for eight hours on PXA-119. They definitely didn't have anything packed for blizzard conditions. Still he dragged out his rain poncho and put it on underneath his vest. He found that tying the poncho hood on over his ears gave almost instant relief to the painful ache in them. Next he pulled out a space blanket and wrapped it around his own shoulders. He rubbed his hands together for a moment warming them with his breath and then got out out the med kit from his pack.

Damn, Daniel was not looking good. His sleeve was stiff with frozen blood. Cutting it away he found more blood seeping sluggishly passed the exposed bone. Daniel's hand below the break was oddly coloured in the torch light. Jack didn't have time for niceties. He pulled the arm carefully until the broken bone went back under the skin and hopefully settled more or less back where it belonged.

"Small mercies," he muttered, very glad that his damaged ears couldn't hear the grinding of the bones, and a little disturbed that he couldn't hear his own voice all that well.

He eyed Daniel's arm carefully, noting that the bleeding hadn't increased or anything, hopefully he hadn't done more damage to the blood vessels. He cleaned and bandaged the arm and did the same for the gash complete with egg sized lump on Daniel's head. "Glad you were out for the count during the bone thing, Danny boy," he murmured. Then he thought about concussion and skull damage, remembering the ungainly, head first fall Daniel had taken, and bit his lip wishing that his friend was conscious after all. That recall, of Daniel's body smashing into the ground, had him doing a thorough check, looking for other injuries that he might have missed in their rush to get off the bug planet.

There was some nasty bruising over the ribs. Possibly a fractured rib or three down Daniel's left side. Jack strapped them with tape, just in case, and sat back on his heels for a moment, feeling the shivers beginning to wrack his own body again as he warmed up. His ears pulsed with pain in time with his heartbeat, and the headache he had developed was bordering on migraine level. He popped a few pain meds into his mouth before shutting the med kit.

Daniel wasn't moving at all. Not even shivering a tiny bit. Jack touched the back of his hand to Daniel's face and feeling the lack of heat there wrapped a space blanket around Daniel and tucked it in tight. Then after a moments thought, he pulled the one off of his own back to wrap around Daniel too. "That's the best I can do for you buddy," he murmured eyeing his friend critically. Daniel didn't look good. Too pale. Too still. He needed to be back in the infirmary under Janet's care.

Jack pulled open both packs and pulled on spare socks and a Daniel's leather work gloves. He also hauled out Daniel's poncho. It was a lightweight waterproof thing, not made for keeping anything but the rain out, but it would help keep his body heat in while he searched for Teal'c and Carter. He tied the poncho over his own one around his middle and then tied the rope over it. Then he grabbed Daniel's torch and made his way out of the tent, zippering it closed behind him.

The wind had picked up even more since they had arrived. Jack staggered and bent into it. Crap but it was cold. He'd only be able to manage ten minute stretches in this weather before he'd need to go back and warm up in the tent. He tied off the rope at the DHD. Grimly he started trudging through the snow feeding the rope out carefully as he went.

"TEAL'C, CARTER?"

Jack shone his torch through the blizzard and still couldn't see a damned thing. This was gonna be bad. In fact, he could confidently say that SG-1 was having yet another very bad day. The storm was worse now than ever – probably covered half the damned planet. He could feel icy gusts threatening to lift him off of his feet completely.

Jack forced himself to focus on the job. He had to get his bearings. Stick with the search pattern. But the sheer strength of the wind gusts was playing havoc with his balance and he kept finding himself face down in the snow and disorientated. If he didn't have the rope tied off he'd be really screwed.

Maybe it was his damaged ears but the wind howled sort of funny. At least he thought it did. Still he scoured the area until he ran out of rope. He got a bead on the Stargate again and checked the area carefully trying to see past the snow whipping into his face.

Nothing. Visibility was less than a foot, and all he was getting from the radios was static. "TEAL'C? CARTER?"

Jack listened as hard as he could. His throbbing ears were starting to ring like he'd been listening to music turned up too loud, and the funny sound to the howling wind was beginning to creep him out. Shouting was next to useless given how bad the storm was anyway, but Jack had to try – he wasn't going to give up and ... . A sudden stabbing of pain in his head had Jack ducking reflexively. The pain meds he'd taken a while ago were still not helping much. His head throbbed mercilessly and his ears hurt like someone had shoved a hot poker in them.

"TEAL'C!"

Jack couldn't help the feeling of raw fear climbing up his spine. He ran through the various scenarios. Maybe they were okay and holed up in the other pop up tent waiting out the storm. Maybe Teal'c had passed out like Carter and Daniel had. Teal'c had been hurt by the bugs squealy crap just as much as they all had been. He remembered that Teal'c had been using his staff weapon for support when he carried Carter through the event horizon. He tried not to think of the pair of them turning into popsicles in the snow somewhere. The white out was so bad they could be three feet away and he wouldn't see them.

Jack clenched his jaw tightly and turned. His body was beginning to feel numb with cold again. He stumbled four paces to the right and started back to the tent. A nasty gust of wind swept him right off his feet and Jack struggled up again painfully. Man, this storm was bad. On a scale of one to ten he'd put this one at a twelve for ferocity. Especially bad if you came dressed for sunny weather and a meet and greet tea party.

A glimpse of something at 8 o'clock out of the corner of his eyes had Jack twisting around. He opened his mouth to shout when his spidey senses started tingling again. Not Teal'c – not anything human.

Jack reached down slowly for his hand gun. Another barely seen movement – something very large and at 12 o'clock, then another movement at two o'clock. There were more than one then. Jack peeled off Daniel's leather glove and pulled out the weapon. There was a tug on the rope then, hard and fast, and it swept the gun out of his hand before landing him back in the snow ten feet from where he had been standing. Damn it, that'd been deliberate. The gun was gone.

Jack rolled back to his feet. If they had found the rope he could be in trouble. He had tied himself off too well. They could reel him in like a yo-yo, and he wouldn't be able to stop them. Jack fumbled around under the poncho with freezing fingers looking for his knife.

There was another twitch at the rope – like something big had brushed against it. Suddenly Jack's heart was in his throat. Daniel was back there, unconscious and unprotected.

Jack had the knife out in seconds, and stumbled along following the rope back to the DHD while he sawed at it.

There was another vicious tug at the rope. Jack had only enough time for a startled grunt of pain before his head impacted with something, and he was out.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Alarm bells.

Damn alarm bells.

Jack wanted to sleep; badly wanted to sleep now that he was starting to feel warmer. He had a bad headache and needed extra shut eye, but somewhere alarms were ringing loud and persistently and something ... felt wrong.

_Something_ _was_ _wrong_.

Jack forced open an eye. It was too dark to see but he could tell that he was lying in the snow. That woke him up. Not as fast as he would have liked to though. His brain was pretty much out of it. Yep, it was pitch black, there was a 2whopping great blizzard and he was half frozen, lying in the snow. His internal alarm bells shut off abruptly to be replaced by the howls of the vicious blizzard.

Jack pressed numb hands beneath him and tried to leaver himself up. It was hard – really hard. He felt nauseous and dizzy, and the illusion of warmth that he'd had was suddenly gone, replaced by numbing cold. His arms didn't want to bend and he couldn't feel his fingers. He could imagine what they looked like, he was in for some serious frost damage. He didn't even want to think about his toes and – other bits.

Pain burned around his waist. More pain throbbed through the top of his head.

Where'd he hit his head?

He'd been running to get back to Daniel. A flash of orange movement. The vicious tug on the rope. Flying through the air. Hitting something with his skull.

Crap! Daniel! He'd been on his way back to him - trying to get back before the orange thingies did anything to Daniel!

Jack crawled; screw the frozen fingers and the nausea. He scrambled following the rope. Almost tried yelling Daniel's name until he remembered the orange glowey things might still be around.

He bumped the DHD with his shoulder. He couldn't even see it through the blizzard. He crawled, frozen fingers sweeping the snow searching desperately around him.

Twice around the DHD. He bumped back into the DHD and rechecked his orientation. His foot should be kicking the side of the tent. He felt around for it one last time, knowing he wouldn't find it.

The tent was gone. Daniel was gone.

The orange things must have taken Daniel – probably had taken Teal'c and Carter too.

Around him the storm howled. Snow whipped at him. Jack dug open the service panel on the DHD. The wind ripped the panel out of his fingers and it was gone. He crouched sideways half in half out of the small crawl space under the DHD. He curled in tightly on himself trying to kindle some warmth back into his body.

One way or another he had to get off this ice ball. He thought of home. They were definitely overdue. They'd be dialling the wrong planet trying to find out what had happened to them. He had no options left. He had to dial home and hope to hell that no one was lying frozen in front of the Gate. He had to get help for his team before _he_ froze and couldn't get help at all. He had to let Hammond know where the hell SG-1 was.

This day was so screwed up.

He peered out into the storm, searching for movement; for anything while his head throbbed and he nursed a flicker of warmth into his body. He waited until he felt reasonably sure that he could dial home without passing out. Then he got his feet underneath himself, leaned right over the DHD, and started searching for the glyphs he needed. He got four of them pressed with his frozen fingers and had just found the fifth one when orange flickers had him lifting his head.

The orange things were back. Lots of orange things coalescing to form large masses and they were moving in fast.

_**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**_

"Emerge human," demanded a voice.

Jack stirred. Alarm bells. He hated alarms.

Jack moaned wanting to sleep longer, especially now that he was finally starting to feel warm. He had a bad headache and needed more sleep. But somewhere alarms were ringing and - something was wrong.

Wait. Hadn't he just done this?

Jack forced heavy eyelids open expecting to see snow and blizzard conditions everywhere. Instead, he got warmth and orange. Lots of moving orange. Lots of warmth. Lots of - pain. The alarm bells in his head faded away and somewhere, someone was talking, saying things that he couldn't elucidate.

Serious pain.

Pain in his hands and feet and head. Pain that made him cry out and drove him back towards oblivion and a search for Daniel in swirling snow storm ... .

**_SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG_**

"We have healed your hurts human," said a voice that was not a voice. "Now you _will_ emerge!"

Jack's eyes snapped open. In a moment he had rolled to his feet, spinning around looking for the owner of the voice / not voice. His mouth dropped open in amazement. Everything was orange. The world had turned into a bottle of orange flavoured mineral water – without the water - or the bottle.

"You will explain to us," said the voice.

"Sure, you betcha!" said Jack. He spun again slowly trying to track the voice, but it swirled around him coming from all directions. There was a howling sound in the orange air that sounded familiar – like the odd sound the blizzard had made when it howled.

Then Jack did a double take at his own body. Hadn't he been pretty much frozen just a while ago? He couldn't see or feel any pain from frost bite. He reached a hand to feel at his head. It didn't even feel bruised and his ears felt fine. Damn, but even his knees didn't hurt much. He bounced on them a few times experimentally. He had a fleeting memory of something orange getting inside his mouth and then the memory was gone. "Ahh, thanks for fixing me up ..."

"Explain your return!" demanded the voice / not voice impatiently.

Jack spun again, trying vainly to find the owner of the voice. "Give a guy a moment will ya – a mean, I was pretty much frozen solid a few moments ago ..."

"You will explain you return to our world through the Gateway now."

Jack glared, turning a slow circle trying to find something in the orange world besides ... orange. "Hang on – your the ones who attacked us ..."

Fire burned against his fingertips. Jack leapt backward snatching fingers out of harms way – except he couldn't see where the harm had come from. All he could see was orange-aide.

"Explain immediately!"

"Okay, fine – but I'm not the one that usually does the explaining – that's Daniel's job."

"You will explain your return to our world or I will terminate your existence."

Jack drew a deep breath. "We came here by accident really."

"Accident?"

"I mean we didn't _really_ want to come here; where ever here actually _is_, that is."

"Your words are confusing human."

"See, I _tried_ to tell ya. Daniel's better at explaining stuff."

"Which one is the 'Daniel'?"

"So you _did_ kidnap my people. Where are they!" Jack strode forward. There had to be an end to the orange-aide, somewhere.

"We are protecting our world. You will remain here."

"Not until I find out what you've done to my people," said Jack striding onward.

"The lives of your companions and your own life will be terminated immediately if you do not halt."

Jack stopped. "I want my friends back now!"

"We demand a full explanation as to the reason for your return to this world ..."

"Why don't you let me see my friends?"

"Explain first."

Jack ground his teeth together. "Fine. We were on another planet, doing a standard meet and greet but the native bugs weren't very nice. They had loud squealy voices which damaged our hearing. They hurt Daniel, and some of them were thinking of having us as a snack so I decided to get the team home."

"This world is not your home."

"Yeah, that's more than a _little_ _obvious!_" Jack nearly shouted, waving his arms around at the orange-aide for added emphasis. He took in a deep, steadying breathe before continuing. "Anyway, the bugs had some pretty high tech equipment and they were watching the DHD so I told Teal'c to dial another world ..."

"This Teal'c is the one that is responsible for returning you all to our world?"

"_I'm_ the one responsible. _I_ gave the order. But Teal'c is the one that dialled the actual address; like I told him to."

"We will question this Teal'c. Which one is the Teal'c?"

"Oh, you can't miss him. He's the big one, bald headed, carries a staff weapon."

"The Jaffa."

"Oh, you've met them then?"

"Isn't that more than a little obvious?"

Jack felt an eyebrow quirk. Usually he would say that anyone who had a sense of humour couldn't be all that bad but, with the kidnapping and all ... . There was movement. A sudden displacement of air.

"Teal'c!" Jack rushed over to the prone body of his friend lying only ten feet away. He scanned quickly finding nothing but dried blood near Teal'c's ears. He patted at the unconscious cheek. "Come on big guy, wakey wakey."

"The Jaffa has been repaired and will emerge shortly."

"Emerge?" Jack patted at Teal'c's face again. "What kinda way is that to talk – I mean most people say 'wake up'. Why don't you guys speak properly."

"We are not 'people', and your language patterns are equally strange."

Jack felt his other eyebrow quirk upwards. "You should talk to Daniel then – he's our linguist – and he's all up with the latest patterns, emergent words and you know, what-not."

There was no reply. Jack bit at his lip. "Honestly, you ought to get Daniel out here, and while your at it, I'd like to see Carter too."

"You forget your position human."

"The name's Jack by the way, and I'd really appreciate it if you could roll the two of them out here. Maybe give them some of that repair work you're so good at too."

"We are highly disturbed by your presence here. Once we question the Teal'c, a decision must be made as to the continued existence of yourself and your companions."

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Carter stirred. Boy, was she thirsty. She licked at dry lips and opened her eyes. Damn, but her head ached too – no, her ears _and_ her head ached. There was an awful, high pitched droning sound in her ears; and it didn't look like her eyes were working either. Either that - or someone had turned everything orange.

She blinked her eyes a few times experimentally. Yup, everything was orange. Her hands brushed the ground beside her and stung. She lifted them and stared at them for a moment. They were red tipped and sore like they had been burned or something. The ground her fingers had brushed was covered with sand by the feel of it. Maybe it was overcast or something because she couldn't see the sun. Actually, it felt like she was in a room of some sort. A very large room at that. Not that she could prove her hypothesis with walls or anything. It was the stillness of the place that gave her the impression.

Damn, but she'd never had enough sympathy for people who got migraines; not until now. She couldn't _believe_ the level of pain and nausea that she was experiencing. Slowly she sat up, holding her head in her hands gingerly. Hopefully, she didn't have any serious damage to account for the migraine. She sat still, breathing in slowly and resting her head on her knees until the pounding in her head settled to something she could more or less handle. She frowned into her knees finding it hard to remember what had been going on, and took a deep breath, concentrating her thoughts.

She remembered the team had gone to PXA-119. They'd been on a standard meet and greet. She'd been so excited when the MALP readings had shown those impressive ovoid shaped domes in the distance. But things hadn't gone at all well once they'd stepped out onto the planet. She winced when she remembered the zero gravity. Daniel had been stuck floating around in it. Then the bugs had come. She remembered Daniel trying to communicate with them and the bugs had replied with loud, _loud_ noises and some sort of telepathic imagery. Damn, but _that_ had hurt – ripped up more than a few brain cells by the feel of her head. Yeah, maybe that was the reason for her migraine - she'd taken some damage to her brain cells. She had definitely suffered some acoustic trauma too. She'd bet anything that the rest of the team weren't any better off either. After that, there wasn't much left to remember. Somewhere along the line, she must have passed out from the pain.

Carter blinked again, and rolled up to her feet unsteadily. She couldn't see much of anything around her except a lot of orange. In fact the atmosphere itself seemed to be orange, although the air still smelled okay – not noxious or anything. She frowned in confusion, remembering that the air hadn't been orange when they'd arrived. That gave her indoor theory some added weight.

Sam groped for her canteen and found it missing, along with her pack, weapons, everything she'd had in her pockets and even her vest. She swore quietly to herself under her breath. Well, at least she still had her clothes.

"Hello?" she called. "Is there anybody there?"

Silence.

"Colonel O"Neill?" she shouted, and winced as her head started pounding again. She listened for a reply, vowing not to try yelling again until she had some Tylenol in her – or morphine. Carefully she massaged her head. Yeah, some morphine would go down really well about now.

Okay, she needed to get down to business. She needed to find the others and find a way back to the Gate. Funny how plans always sounded so simple. What she was seriously lacking, was useful information. What on earth was she doing here in this orange place? Where were the rest of her team? What had happened after she'd passed out? Nothing good, she'd have to guess. They wouldn't leave her alone when she was unconscious – not voluntarily, anyway.

Sam turned to look around her and staggered a little as vertigo hit her along with more nausea. She steadied herself and waited until the dizzy spell had passed and then looked more carefully around her again. Orange and more orange. She picked a direction and started walking. Whoever those bugs were, they sure seemed fond of orange.

She'd walked maybe five minutes when her ears picked up a muffled sound at about two o'clock from her position. "Colonel?"

Silence. Then another soft sound. Retching.

Sam hurried towards the sound, struggling to see through the orange atmosphere, and fighting bouts of dizziness. Twice she stumbled and fell. In the back of her mind she wondered if it was the ear damage that was making her unsteady on her feet or the damage those bugs had done to her head. There was no use worrying about it now when she couldn't fix the problem, but it hurt her head like nothing else when she kept falling down.

The smell hit her first, and Sam's stomach rebelled violently. She threw up everything she had in three gut wrenching heaves. Yuck, she spat the sour taste out and scrubbed at her mouth with the back of her wrist. Now she _really_ needed a drink.

She was finding it hard to adjust her vision to work in the orange air so she nearly tripped over the body before seeing it.

"Daniel!"

His eyes were half open and glazed, but he didn't acknowledge her. Sam tried hard not to look at the pool of sick lying close by and knelt beside him. Damn it, he was a mess. She took in the bandaged head wound and arm with a worried frown. What the hell had happened to Daniel after she'd passed out?

"Daniel?" she tapped at his cheek. "Come on Daniel, wake up a little for me, please."

Daniel blinked at her just once before his eyes closed again.

Sam drew in a frightened breath, and bit her lip. Had she imagined it? Carefully she peeled back Daniel's eyelids one at a time. He had uneven pupil sizes, a sign of brain trauma, and his body was held rigidly, feet turned inward, the uninjured fisted hand held close to his chest. A classic pose for abnormal posturing - also a sign of severe head trauma. Sam chewed at her lip and started a quick examination. There were damaged ribs that had been taped up. She could recognise Jack's work there. Daniel's fingers were red tipped just like her own. The bandage on his head had soaked through with blood. The head wound might be the cause of the brain trauma symptoms. Either that or the telepathic and acoustic assault had done it.

Abruptly Daniel's eyes were open, staring into hers.

"S... Sam?"

"Daniel!

"Orrrange?"

Sam forced a small smile. Tick off symptom number three for severe head trauma: slurred speech. "Daniel, do you know where we are or where the Colonel and Teal'c are?"

Daniel started to shake his head. His eyes closed and he moaned. "P ...Pain meds?"

"I'm sorry Daniel. I woke up here without any of our gear. Even my vest is missing." Sam took in another whiff of the pool of sick near Daniel and quickly started shovelling sand over the mess before it triggered another bout of vomiting.

"J..Jack, T', T' ..."

"I don't know where they are, but Colonel O'Neill taped up your arm and ribs."

"Trou...ble."

"Yup. I think we're in deep trouble. The Colonel and Teal'c wouldn't leave us out here if they had any choice."

Carter sat back thinking hard. Daniel shouldn't be moved in the condition that he was in, but they had no water or gear, half the team was missing, probably in trouble, and she couldn't leave Daniel in the state that he was in – not in an unknown area and with hostiles around. There weren't many choices. She bit her lip again hard, hating to ask. "Daniel do you think you can walk if I helped you?"

He hesitated for only a few seconds, but that was enough to send Carter's worry-meter up another notch. Daniel usually had to be tied down to stop him from trying to help someone – injured or not.

Carter helped him slowly to his feet, wrapped her arm tightly around his waist and waited until Daniel had his balance – more or less. Then they started off.

Under other circumstances, the way they staggered along might have seemed funny – like two drunks holding each other up. But it wasn't long before the effort needed just to keep Daniel upright became definitely not funny. They'd only been walking for twenty minutes or so when Daniel staggered and fell to his knees. Carter let him down for a rest, hating the way he was panting so hard already. She was starting to feel worried. Maybe her theory about being indoors was off because there was definitely some wind movement happening. Off in the distance she could hear the wind howling. She frowned thoughtfully. Maybe it was the migraine or the damage to her ears but - the wind howled sort of funny here.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS**

Teal'c sat bolt upright. His eyes took in the orange atmosphere and his eyebrows rose in astonishment.

O'Neill put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling, Teal'c?"

"I am well, O'Neill," said Teal'c rolling up to his feet. He performed a slow turn. "What has become of Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson?"

The voice that was not a voice spoke again. "You have - awoken - Jaffa, Teal'c."

Teal'c's eyebrows rose even higher. He tilted his head to the side looking for the source of the voice / not voice and frowned.

"Meet our captors, Teal'c," said O'Neill climbing to his feet and waving his arms to indicate the area around them.

"I see no-one, O'Neill."

Jack sighed, "I was hoping it was only me. Let me get you up to speed here." He counted off on his fingers. "One: who ever they are, they're _very_ fond of orange. Two: they've helped themselves to our stuff. Three: they're a tad upset about us being on their world. Four: they want to know the reason that we are here and depending on our answer to that; they are seriously considering – how did they put it – 'our continued existence'. Oh, did I forget to mention," Jack ticked off another finger angrily. "Five: they've got Daniel and Carter stashed away somewhere."

Teal'c's frown turned decidedly hostile. He glared into the orange atmosphere. "For what reason have you attacked us?"

"That is a question we ourselves asked of the last Jaffa that invaded our world attempting to destroy us. They did not choose to answer."

"So that's the reason you don't like uninvited visitors to your world?" asked Jack.

"The Teal'c will answer our questions. We found no written references to this world amongst your equipment. How is it that you knew the path to take to bring you and your companions to our world?"

Teal'c took a half step forward and answered. "I recalled the address. It was to a barren world that we had recently visited."

"The 'address' was in your memory?"

Teal'c scanned for the owner of the voice. "Yes."

"What did you see when you first travelled to our world."

Teal'c shared a puzzled glance with O'Neill. "We saw a desert, devoid of life, water or minerals of value."

"Yet you recalled the path that returned you to this world?"

Teal'c's frown retuned. "I do not understand."

"All travellers to our world receive the Felin drug. It ensures that they see a barren worthless world of no interest and this world and the path to it are soon forgotten. You have seen what the drug makes you see, yet you remembered the path. We must know how this has occurred."

"You drugged us?" said Jack in outrage.

"This is our world and we _will_ protect it."

"Oh for crying out loud!" said Jack. "Look, give us back our people and we'll leave. We won't come back and we'll make sure that none of our people come back either."

There was a long silence, except for the ever present howling of wind.

"Seriously. We won't come back. You don't even have to do that repair work on Daniel and Carter. Just give them back to us and we'll get out of your hair."

"You cannot be trusted."

"What? You don't even know us! How can you ..."

"Humans lie."

Jack sighed. "Look if it's that important to you, we will all swear never to come back again - scout's honour even."

"We will return one of your companions to you in exchange for an agreement from the Teal'c to submit to a memory scan."

"Hold on, hold on. What are you talking about?"

"We will scan his memories and discover why the Felin drug has failed."

"Now wait just a minute. Memory scanning doesn't sound safe. I doubt if you've ever even done one on a Jaffa before. What if you hurt Teal'c?"

"You are correct in your assumptions. We do not know if the scan will be completely successful when performed on such an unusual species. His agreement to assist in the scan is not essential. It will however, be less painful and less time consuming if he were to agree to the scan."

"I will submit willingly to such a memory scan in exchange for the return of our companions," said Teal'c.

"Woah, back up. I'm the one in command here, Teal'c. These – people - haven't even said if it's dangerous or not. I tend to think anything that involves peeling open a brain has got to be a little on the risky side. I'm not trading Teal'c's life for another life."

"As you yourself have noted, we are adept at repairing injuries. The Teal'c will be returned to you as he is now. We simply require his co-operation. In exchange, we will return _one_ of the others."

Jack scowled. "Fine then. But I want him back without a scratch on him!"

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

"Gotta resssst, jus a sec...nd." Daniel slid to the ground.

Sam bit her lip hard. Daniel had only managed to walk about seven minutes worth this time. His breath whistled in and out loudly and he was sweating. He was getting weaker by the minute.

"Okay Daniel, you rest a while." She checked his temperature with the back of her hand. He was cold and clammy. Damn it! She clenched her hand into a fist. It was useless checking his temperature! She needed to get him to Janet. Needed water, meds, a hospital with the works. He was gonna _die_ on her!

Daniel reached out a shaky hand and patted at her calf reassuringly. "I'm … fiiine."

Sam sucked in a steadying breath, closed her eyes for a minute, "Yeah, Daniel," she said softly. Panicking was counterproductive. She needed to do something useful.

She squinted through the orange atmosphere. It was too dense to see through; she could barely see her own feet. So far they'd been walking about forty minutes. There had been no sign of the bugs, the Colonel, Teal'c or the Gate. In fact, there'd been no sign of anything except sand and orange. No, tracks, no animals, no insects – large or small, not even a rock.

"Daniel, I'm gonna check out the area a little, okay? If you see any of those bugs, just yell. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Daniel waved a hand at her and let it thump back on the sand again."

She walked, kicking a furrow in the sand to help her find the way back. "Colonel? Teal'c?" she yelled.

No answers.

No nothing in fact. Sam rubbed at her head again, feeling the pounding of her headache. Next time she went anywhere she'd hide a few Tylenol in her clothes; maybe make a little compartment for them in the heel of her boot or something so any thieving aliens wouldn't find them when she needed them.

She made her way back to Daniel. She had to crawl part of the way because it got hard to see the furrows she had made.

Daniel hadn't moved an inch from when she had left. He was still. Too still.

"Daniel?" She reached out a shaking hand to feel for a pulse.

He blinked at her.

Sam felt her own heart skip fast for a few seconds. She put the hand on his shoulder instead. "Think you can go another stretch now?"

Daniel nodded and moved.

It took a long time to get him to his feet this time. Sam's head was pounding hard with the effort. Daniel was all jelly legged, and most of his weight was leaning on her now.

They moved. Staggered really. Sam could see him clenching his jaw at each step.

Somehow, they managed another eighty steps before Daniel passed out in her arms.

Sam laid him down carefully. He was no light weight, even though he hardly ever ate much. Sam knew he wouldn't be moving any time soon. Maybe never again.

"COLONEL? TEAL'C," she yelled again with all of her might. Was there an edge of hysteria to her voice now? She glanced down at Daniel's white face. Yeah, pure, terrified hysteria.

"Don't you dare die on me Daniel," she said brushing hair out of his eyes.

He didn't stir.

Sam stood. Rubbed shaking hands on her sore ears, and scrubbed wretchedly at her face. She couldn't do this alone. She just couldn't. "Jack? Teal'c? Please!"

The wind was picking up again, along with that weird howling sound. Sand shifted over her boots. That made doing any kind of reconnaissance out of the question. She wouldn't be able to find her own tracks back if she left Daniel. Actually, leaving Daniel now was out of the question, even though a part of her wanted to run and run until she found help.

Sand whipped into her face, stinging her cheek.

Movement.

Sam squinted, trying to see through the orange air.

More movement.

Sam felt something brush against her, and abruptly she was floating; no, flying away – fast.

"Daniel!" she screamed.

Sam twisted, trying to see Daniel, to feel what had her. All she could see was orange and she couldn't feel what had lifted her. There wasn't anything pressing at her besides the feeling of rushing air. How the hell was she going to get down? _Something_ had a hold of her. "Put me down!" Daniel was alone. He was hurt too badly. She couldn't leave him to die alone.

"Please, put me back down. My friend needs me," she screamed.

Then the air did press in on her.

"No!" she gasped.

The air pressed. Crushed. She breathed it in. It stung and twisted through her panicked body until she lost consciousness.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS**

"Saaaam? Sam?" Daniel forced himself into wakefulness. Forced his eyes open, peered through sweaty locks of hair and sand. He'd heard her scream. A terrified scream. Sam was in trouble!

He moved. Ignored the pain, and the weakness of his body. Managed to get his feet underneath himself somehow. Couldn't see properly. Blurry. No glasses. Head _hurt_. Panting, in out. Hurt bad.

But Sam _needed _him.

He turned, trying to see where she might be. He nearly fell back down again then. But he locked his knees stubbornly.

"Saaam?"

Nothing.

The wind whipped the sand into his face. He didn't have the energy to shield it. He took a few careful steps, and staggered badly. A sudden strong gust of wind brushed against him pushing him upright again before he could fall.

"Jack, Teal'c?" Daniel walked a few more steps, holding his throbbing arm close against his chest. He wiped at the blood running from his nose with his other hand and tried to bring something into focus. The ground before him seemed to sway and fade. He staggered forward. The wind pushed against him again saving him from a fall, but hurting his ribs. He grunted with the pain. "Don' push!"

That wasn't right. _Something_ was there. Something he couldn't see had pushed at him.

No, no there wasn't anything there. No ghosts, no ghouls, no Goa'ulds. Jack was right. Too much reading and you lose your marbles. Either that or ... or maybe the bugs had invisibility cloaks. Daniel giggled and staggered back a pace. "Don' laughh – hurts riiibs. Change dirrrrection, go 'round 'em. Have to find Sam. Jack 'nd Teal'c too. Go home, 'firmary. Maybe sleeeeep a week."

Daniel walked on, whispering to himself as the blood dripped past his lips. "One step, twooo steps ... gotta fin' J'ck. Hope theyrrre close. Threee steps, don't like bugssss, four. Don' like orange." He swatted belatedly at some nothingness before him. "Steps ... help Sam. Four stps; didn't like ... this world beforrre either. Hurrts, huuurrrts ...four stps ... can't, sss." Daniel passed out.

Around him the wind howled. A voice that wasn't a voice sounded in alarm. "This one remembers too!"

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

There were voices.

Someone was tapping at her cheek. Carter swiped angrily and pounced, trying to bite. Her teeth came together with a loud clicking sound.

"Woah there, Carter. Once bitten twice shy, ya know."

"Are you well, Captain Carter?"

Carter opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. "Colonel? Teal'c?" The Colonel and Teal'c were kneeling beside her. "Am I glad to see you guys. I thought those bugs might have got you."

The Colonel was holding his hand up protectively, out of Carter's reach. "Little update for ya Carter, we're not on the bugs planet any more, we're on another planet altogether. How are you feeling?"

Carter put a hand to her head. "I'm fine," she said with more than a little amazement. "I was hurting a little while ago ... but I feel just fine now."

"The Teal'c will now be examined, as agreed."

"Teal'c?" said Carter jumping to her feet in alarm. There was a movement out of the corner of her eye. Fast orange movement, and abruptly, Teal'c was gone.

"Not a scratch on him, remember?" growled Jack climbing back to his feet.

"Interesting," said the voice / not voice.

Carter did two full three sixties, trying to pick where the voice had come from.

"Give it up, Carter. You'll only make yourself dizzy," said Jack.

"What do you find so interesting?" he said to the orangeaid atmosphere.

"You. The Carter and even the Teal'c - Jaffa that he is; you all display concern for each other."

"So? And? Therefore?"

"The Jaffa and the Goa'uld that came here before left all of their injured behind. They showed no concern for others; only for they're own safety."

"Yup, guess we're painted with a different brush, here. Individuality, don't ya know. Never judge a book by it's cover and all that. And if you want to know what that _means_, you're gonna have to ask _Daniel_."

"Daniel!" yelped Carter, she gripped the Colonel's sleeve urgently. "Daniel needs medical attention, sir. He's badly injured, maybe even .. ." She bit back the words with a gasp.

"You've seen Daniel?" said Jack peering at her intently. He could feel his heart beat double timing it at the panic in Carter's voice.

"I found him out there in that orange desert somewhere," said Carter urgently. "He was in a bad way. His pupils were uneven and his speech was slurred and he ... he passed out sir, just before the aliens got me." Carter could see the Colonel go white in the face, even with the orange air between them.

He spun to address the Voice. "Bring Daniel back here now!" he demanded.

"We agreed on the return of _one_ of your companions in exchange for the Teal'c ..."

"I know what we agreed on!" shouted Jack. "Daniel needs your help. He's hurt badly and he's gonna die out there alone if you don't help him."

There was silence.

"If you guys had any decency then you'd help him!"

"I'll go back," said Carter, loudly.

"Carter, stay out of this."

"No, sir. If it was a choice between me and Daniel then I'll go back sir. We can't let Daniel die alone, I'll be okay."

The voice / not voice was still silent.

"Look," said Jack trying to control the sound of fear and desperation in his voice. "You wanted Teal'c's help in exchange for the return of one of my people. How about we swap. You put me out there and bring back Daniel healed and healthy. What do you say?"

"You would exchange your life for that of your companion?"

"You betcha! In a heartbeat! Do we have a deal?"

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Teal'c had been taken to a place where the orange atmosphere was so dense that he could not see his own hands. He did not like being moved from place to place by these invisible creatures. He did not like losing control of his own body. He could now better understand the fear in Daniel Jackson's voice when the lack of gravity had placed him beyond reach of anything. It was intensely ... disturbing ... not to have something to hold onto. Not to have control.

"You have agreed to assist us in our memory scans," said the voice / not voice from all around him.

"What must I do?" asked Teal'c. By reflex, he continued to scan the orange atmosphere searching for the owner of the voice but finding nothing.

"Simply breath deeply and keep your thoughts on your memories of this world."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow curiously. He bowed his head in acknowledgement and breathed deeply, remembering all he could of the world he had inadvertently stranded the team on. Abruptly he felt a crushing sensation and something entered his body through his nostrils. Teal'c's head fell back and he staggered. An intense burning pain filled his lungs and then spread throughout his body.

He was on the ground, convulsing. His back arched in pain, and his symbiote squealing within him. Teal'c took in another breath and screamed.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Movement. Pain. Headache. Head _hurt_, arm throbbed. Daniel opened weary eyes. Blinked ineffectively, trying to focus. There was a storm. Howling wind.

But that wasn't what had disturbed him. Daniel struggled to make sense of things. He was moving, he wasn't using his limbs; not in a car, and he was still moving.

He struggled to focus. Dizzy; floating; weightlessness; couldn't see the ground!

Oh Lord, not again!

Adrenalin pumped through his body. He tried to see through the orange air, but it was suddenly so thick. It pressed at him; squeezed him; crushed. Daniel gasped in panic. Claustrophobic. It was too close - everywhere! He twisted and turned and gasped again. It entered through his mouth and nose and it burned and twisted through him. "Noooo!" Daniel tried to scream. Opened his mouth and felt more of it pour in.

"Get ouuut!" The pain was overwhelming, it filled him, hurt him. He couldn't stop it. Couldn't... . It burned; _hurt_, and he felt the last of himself spiral away into endless blackness.

**SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG**

Air displacement.

A body lay on the ground.

"Sir, it's Teal'c!" Carter fell to her knees beside him. Teal'c's face was drawn and drained of colour.

Teal'c shuddered and sat up. His hand shook as he reached up to feel at his head, then slipped it down to rest over his symbiote pouch.

Jack offered a hand and helped pull his team mate to his feet. "Glad to see your back, 'T," he said running a concerned eye over his unsettled looking friend. "Are you okay?"

Teal'c turned his eyes away, but not before Jack could see the pain in his friends eyes. "I require kel'no'reem, O'Neill. I do not wish to experience such a thing again," he said grimly.

Jack winced sympathetically, and reached out a hand to pat his friend on the shoulder. He turned to address the air. "Are you satisfied now? Got all your answers? What's the verdict?"

There was no answer. There hadn't been any conversation at all with the aliens since he'd offered to exchange himself for Daniel.

Jack exchanged concerned glances with Teal'c and Carter.

"This silent treatment's getting a little old ya know!"

Still silence.

"Hello? Any displaced voices out there?"

There was nothing but a distant howling of the wind.

Jack frowned. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his empty stomach. "Teal'c, you feel up to a little recon?"

Teal'c's head titled a little in consideration. Then he nodded his head wearily.

"I don't think we should split up, sir," said Carter, nervously.

"Don't intend to. But all the action's where ever that howling sound is coming from, and I've got a feeling, that's where we'll find Daniel too."

They headed out, walking quickly through the sand. Carter could feel the anxiety from her two companions - worry for their youngest team member. They walked quickly, mindful of Teal'c's weariness, heading towards the howling sounds. After a time, Teal'c started a loping run. Carter and O'Neill exchanged a glance and picked up the pace too.

Soon they were all running at full speed. Getting closer to the howling sound by the second.

Carter pulled up abruptly. "Holy ...!" she yelped loudly over the howl of wind. Her mouth dropped open and she pointed up into the air in horror.

Jack pulled up beside her and followed her gaze. High up, in the orange storm ahead, was a body; limply rolling around in a tornado of orange air. It could only be Daniel.

"PUT HIM THE HELL DOWN!" yelled Jack furiously.

The wind howled viciously and the twisting orange storm shifted to engulf all of them. Jack leapt forward wrapping his arms around Carter and Teal'c. He fully expected to be picked up and pulled into the tornado too, but the wind died down unnaturally fast, and Daniel's spinning body floated down gently to the ground.

He was unconscious. Tousled hair lay plastered to his forehead and pale cheek with a mixture of sweat, blood and sand. In a moment they were beside him; Jack and Teal'c standing guard. Carter knelt, momentarily frightened of what she would find when she checked him. She touched his cheek, relieved to find some warmth there. Then she shifted her fingers hunting for a pulse.

A Voice spoke again. "We are sorry."

Carter's fingers shifted again, searching more frantically. She dropped down and put her ear to his chest. "He's barely alive, sir," she whispered, through a throat that had suddenly gone very tight with emotion.

Jack couldn't tear his eyes from Daniel's body, he knelt down and put a shaking hand on his friends forehead. He spoke to the Voice. "Why are you sorry? You can fix him same as you did for us, can't you?"

"A part of us was afraid. Afraid! The Daniel also remembered this world. We are sorry. We looked into his memories without his permission and caused the Daniel further harm."

Jack watched Daniel struggling for breath.

"So, why don't you repair him?"

"The Daniel is badly damaged. If we attempt to repair him we may destroy him."

Jack stared at Daniel's beaten body, watching Carter roll back his unresponsive eyes.

Carter settled back, looking suddenly exhausted. She looked into Jack's eyes with her own pain filled ones. "I can't do anything for him, sir. I don't even think Janet could help him at this stage. He hasn't got much of a chance without a sarcophagus."

Jack swore and sprung back up to his feet. "I don't want to hear your apologies. Unless you've got a sarcophagus handy, I want _you_ to repair him."

"We do not have Goa'uld machinery."

"So, there's no choice then. You fix him!"

The voice was silent again. The wind no longer howled. Jack could suddenly hear Daniel's laboured breathing sounding loudly in his ears. In the back of his mind he started counting the breaths, knowing that there weren't gonna be many more.

"The repair of solid beings such as yourselves requires some of us to enter the being. It is initially very painful for the being. We do not believe this one is strong enough. The Daniel being may die."

"Daniel is a strong person..." Jack glanced down at Daniel's body and thought how wrong those words suddenly sounded given how vulnerable and beaten Daniel looked; how Daniel struggled for each breath. Jack tore his eyes away and brushed his hands through his hair in worry. "Look, we don't have any other options here!" he said furiously. "You leave him in this state and he _will_ die!"

Another loud laboured breath in the sudden silence.

"We will do as you wish."

Jack spun in the sand and scrambled down beside Daniel. "Daniel? You listen to me, buddy. I'm giving you an order Daniel and you had _better _obey it, if you know what's good for you. There's gonna be a bit of pain for a few minutes. Okay. It's just for a few minutes. You are **not** going to die, Daniel. Hear me? That's a direct order. You hang on, Daniel no matter what!"

There was the barest movement from Daniel. A twitching of his lips. A ragged breath drawn in and slowly expelled out.

Then some of the orange air condensed and spiralled into Daniel's body with his next breath.

Dilated, blood shot eyes snapped open in terror, and Daniel's body arched off the ground as sudden, agonising pain rippled through him. Reflexively he tried to cough out what had entered him.

Jack remembered then, that the same thing had happened to him. A gasped curse from Carter told him that she was remembering too. Damn, but he could do without that memory. It had hurt like nothing he had ever experienced; like being crushed and then acid burning up the inside of his body. Suddenly Jack worried that he was asking too much of Daniel.

Jack bent over the body again. He took Daniel's face in both of his hands. "Daniel, follow your damn orders for once, hear me? You hang in there! You can do this! You have to hold on, hear me! You are not. Allowed. To die!"

Daniel's hand shifted; brushed at Jack's, and fell limply to the ground again. Sam caught it up and held it gently.

Blood shot eyes stared upward, unfocussed and unseeing, centred inward on incredible pain. Daniel's body started shuddering hard, his teeth clenched tighter and tighter together. He let out one agonised howl of pain, and then his body started shaking even harder as if he were fighting to hold himself together – trying not to explode. His head twisted from side to side, denying the pain or denying the orders; Jack didn't know which.

"Please, Daniel come back to us. Don't let go," said Sam on the verge of tears.

Teal'c bent beside Daniel too. "Daniel Jackson, you are a great warrior. You have the strength to survive this. You have promised to perform ke'lno'reem with me after this mission and I will hold you to that promise."

Jack brushed hair out of his friend's eyes and listened carefully. Desperate breathes gasped in, each one a struggle. Each one maybe the last. But after a few minutes Jack thought that the breathes were coming a little easier, a little less painfully. Soon Daniel definately was breathing more easily, and the shuddering slowly died down. Then the little cuts on his face closed and faded. Jack watched as the redness withdrew from Daniel's eyes, and pupils returned to normal. Awareness returned to the eyes, registering pain, confusion, and – panic!

Jack gripped both shoulders holding Daniel still. "It's alright Daniel! It's nearly over. Your gonna be just fine, buddy!"

Daniel struggled. Gaining strength by the second. He drew a deep breath and exhaled orange with a long, horrified howl.

Daniel lay there panting, gasping, and blinking up at them for a long moment. "What - the hell - was - that?"

Sam laughed out loud in delight.

Teal'c let out a long held breath and gave one of his rare smiles.

Jack heaved in a relieved breath of his own and patted his space monkey on the cheek.

"The 'Daniel' is repaired and you are free to go."

The wind swirled around them and their missing gear appeared.

"Thanks for fixing Daniel," said Jack watching as Teal'c helped the archaeologist to his feet.

Daniel's mouth dropped open. He looked up and spun around looking for the owner of the voice.

Jack couldn't help the smile that covered his face.

"We apologise to the Daniel for bringing him close to death."

"Wha ... I was close to death?" said Daniel looking shocked.

"Did you find out what you needed?" Jack asked the orange atmosphere.

"It is the fault of the telepathic creatures you met on the last planet that you went to. Their telepathic interference destroyed the blocks placed on your memories by the drug."

"Drugs? Blocked memories?" said Daniel from behind him.

Jack held up a hand asking Daniel to wait. "Sooo, you um – people, gonna drug us again?"

"No. You would be immune to it's effects now. We will simply seal our Gate after you leave. It would be safer to unseal the Gate only when we need to use it."

"Would somebody mind telling me what's been going on?" said Daniel sounding exasperated.

Jack turned to help the team gather their things. "We'll explain when we get back home, Daniel."

Daniel lifted his backpack onto his shoulders, and took a long drink from his canteen. He frowned in puzzlement. "I don't seem to remember much after getting stuck in that no gravity zone. Where have all the bugs gone? And who, or what, are we talking to now? And how did I get down from that gravity thing? I seem to remember lots of ...," Daniel waved his hand around searching for the word. "Lots of orangeness, and I seemed to be floating around an awful, _awful_ lot."

The orange atmosphere coalesced into a dense orange cloud and drifted away a little. Suddenly the air was clear, and they could see the snow coated Gate only forty yards away through a clear atmosphere. Jack gave the signal and they moved towards the Gate.

"Safe journey, humans," said the Voice.

"You know, we travel to other worlds to find allies against the Goa'uld. Maybe, you guys ...?"

"It is – intensely uncomfortable for us to interact with beings such as yourselves. We do not wish to make allies and we will do all in our power to avoid conflict with other species."

"That's a 'no' then?" asked Jack.

There was no reply. Slowly, the orange cloud drifted off.

"Can't say I'll miss all of that - orangeaide," said Jack thoughtfully.

"Orange." said Daniel musingly. "I remember a lot of orange and ... floating. I don't remember this snow though," he added thoughtfully, as he brushed the stuff away from the face of the DHD. He shivered, "I wasn't stuck in another anti gravity field was I?" asked Daniel as he dialled up the address.

"Oh yeah, Daniel. We had a hell of a lot of trouble getting you down today," said Jack.

"Getting me down?" Daniel turned wide blue eyes to Jack.

"Returning you to ground level," explained Teal'c helpfully.

Carter smiled as she entered the GDO code.

"Yup, you've been floating around across two whole planets today, space monkey."

"Floating?" spluttered Daniel looking uncomfortable. "Hang on, what do you mean, 'two' planets? Isn't this PXA-119?" He stopped and did a slow three-sixty, looked around with a frown at the landscape. "How'd we get here then? I'm missing an awful lot of recent events here, Jack."

Jack smiled and ushered his team ahead of him through the Gate.

END


End file.
